Good morning folks,
Can you feel the Democratic sadness? The chill? Just over a week remains before President Obama will drive down Pennsylvania Avenue to deliver his State of the Union message before a joint session of of Congress, yet many of his liberal colleagues seem convinced that he remains aloof, incurious about their needs, and simply out for himself. It’s common knowledge that the relationship between the President and House and Senate Republicans is, to put it charitably, strained. Little attention, however, has been paid to the fact that Congressional Democrats areincreasingly frustrated, consistently struggling to maintain a productive relationship with the man who was once supposed to change the way Washington worked.
“Democrats on Capitol Hill are bluntly warning [President Obama] that he has to do more to engage them if he expects his congressional allies to take a series of politically tough votes. Interviews with dozens of members of Congress and senior aides reveal frustration and in some cases exasperation that a president who came from the Senate has no apparent appetite for cultivating relationships on Capitol Hill,” report Manu Raju and Jonathan Martin in Politico. “…many fellow Democrats believe he’s out for himself and detached from broader party and member interests. …Among the broader Democratic universe, it’s a topic of endless debate: Why is the president so seemingly indifferent toward Congress?”
We wonder whether ObamaCare will cover the cost of therapy sessions needed to fix the relationship between the President and his frustrated Congressional buddies? Seriously though, the President’s failure to build relationships could prove costly in the months ahead with the upcoming sequester, the budget battles, the debt ceiling, immigration reform, and other pressing issues on the calendar. For instance, yesterday President Obama made clear that he will push for new tax hikes, and specifically mentioned the carried interest rate paid by private equity and hedge fund executives - some of Senator Chuck Schumer’s closest allies and friends. Pont is, relationships matter - and the President has spent five years building very few productive ones and harming others.
Seize the day,
Brad Dayspring
@BDayspring
Mark Bednar
@MarkBednar
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@DLeonhardt “Is New Orleans getting revenge on Roger Goodell?”
@BuzzFeedAndrew “Lights out, welcome to the second term everybody.”
@jaketapper “Zeppo Harbaugh, the 3rd and unloved brother, off somewhere cackling”
@Zerohedge “Solyndra’s superbowl ad is the funniest so far”
@GeraldoRivera “If elected I would propose a bill to make Super-Monday a national, no school, no work holiday/day of community service”
@meredithshiner “Dear GOP operatives, he’s wearing a Ray Lewis jersey. RT @GovernorOMalley Congratulations Ravens!!!”
@MorningMoneyBen “Great to see @RGIII upbeat about the knee and walking fine w/out crutches. #HTTR http://goo.gl/xuCWv”
@ClotureClub “Your weather alert for #DC! The day’s High is 38F with a Low of 31F.”
On The Radar
Economic Growth
A GOP Leader Aims to Change Party’s Message: “..strategists have spoken about the need to broaden the party’s appeal to other demographic groups, in the wake of November’s election losses. Republicans significantly trail in appealing to women, young people and minorities. Mr. Cantor plans to emphasize existing GOP policies, such as educational initiatives that the party says would mean more school choice for students who often are forced to attend poorly performing public schools, the aide said. In a bid to highlight this, Mr. Cantor plans to visit a charter school in Petworth, a neighborhood undergoing gentrification in Washington, D.C. The Virginia lawmaker also intends to discuss the need to repeal a tax on medical devices that was introduced as part of the Affordable Care Act, arguing that it was raising health-care costs for people; the need to allow highly skilled foreign nationals educated at U.S. colleges to remain in the country after they graduate; and the need to simplify the U.S. tax code, which would save families money and free up more family time.”
Banks, At Least, Had A Friend In Geithner. “Let’s just say the financial institutions that dominate the United States were rarely on the losing end in the Geithner years.”
How Budget Baselines Affect Claims Of Deficit Savings. “As Washington begins another round of torturous budget talks, much of the discussion will be on how much deficit reduction has already been achieved—and how much is needed in the years going forward. In order to even begin that discussion, all sides need to agree on the “baseline,” or the starting point. Amazingly, just adding or subtracting a few months from the baseline will result in a difference of hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Tax Reform Expected In Kasich Budget Plan. “Reforming the tax code for all 11.4 million Ohioans, reallocating education funds for 2.2 million students in kindergarten through grad school, and making a decision on whether to expand Medicaid for an additional 450,000 low-income residents will be part of Republican Gov. John Kasich’s budget proposal to be unveiled today.”
Immigration
Lindsey Graham Goes All-In On Immigration. “A red-state Republican senator up for reelection and seen as vulnerable to a primary challenge from the right embraces a plan to allow illegal immigrants to gain U.S. citizenship — a lightning rod for GOP primary voters if there ever was one.”
Health Care
Obamacare’s Pressure Points - There are at least nine stumbling points in its implementation: 1) Health exchanges 2) Medicaid expansion. 3) Individual-mandate enforcement. 4) “Minimum” health-benefits coverage. 5) Who picks up the check? 6) Health-care-provider capacity. 7) “Pilot” error. 8) Transparency without real prices. 9) Standardization vs. customization. These pressure points, all serious vulnerabilities, suggest that the ACA’s implementation process will be politically precarious and economically painful. However, it will also present new opportunities to retrace our steps and consider a different path.
NFL Joins With G.E. In Effort To Detect Concussions. “The N.F.L., faced with increasing concern about the toll of concussions and confronted with litigation involving thousands of former players, is planning to form a partnership with General Electric to jump-start development of imaging technology that would detect concussions and encourage the creation of materials to better protect the brain.”
In Hard Economy For All Ages, Older Isn’t Better, It’s Brutal. “Young graduates are in debt, out of work and on their parents’ couches. People in their 30s and 40s can’t afford to buy homes or have children. Retirees are earning near-zero interest on their savings. In the current listless economy, every generation has a claim to having been most injured. But the Labor Department’s latest jobs snapshot and other recent data reports present a strong case for crowning baby boomers as the greatest victims of the recession and its grim aftermath.”
Medicaid Seem Off-Limits To Talk Of Budget Cuts. “Even as President Obama and congressional Republicans gear up for a new budget battle, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which together provide coverage to more than 1 in 5 Americans and almost 1 in 3 Californians over the course of a year, appear off-limits despite their huge price tag.”
X-Factor
Can Robert Menendez Survive? “In a state with a colorful history, it takes a lot for a New Jersey politician to cross the line into political toxicity.Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez has found himself at the center of a growing controversy, with accusations swirling of a questionable friendship with a Florida eye surgeon being investigated for Medicare fraud, improper flights to the Dominican Republic and alleged patronizing of prostitutes — including underage girls — while in the Caribbean nation.”
Double Whammy For Pentagon. “As it makes the case against threatened spending cuts next month, the Pentagon faces an awkward question of its own: Has the military been spending at a faster pace than assumed under a funding bill for the first half of this fiscal year?”
This & That
AD AGE: Marketers Jump on Super Bowl Blackout With Real-Time Twitter Campaigns
The Best & Worst Super Bowl Ads
CBS drops the ball in Superdome blackout coverage by failing to press the NFL for answers
“Is It Baseball Season Yet?” Countdown
Could the infamous Black Dahlia case be about to be solved?
McDonald’s May Raise Price Of $1 McDouble Due To Rising Beef Costs